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What baby item could be more homemade than breastmilk? Pure and simple, it’s the easiest way to give your bambina something homemade, organic, and cheap!

If you’re a breastfeeding mama, or thinking about becoming one, or you want to show your support to breastfeeding mamas, and you live in the greater Indianapolis area (or will be in the area), please consider joining us for the Big Latch On Indy.

On-site registration, refreshments, and socializing will begin at 9:00 am, as well as the chance to check out some mama- and baby-friendly vendors. The actual latch will be from 10:30-10:31, and will be followed immediately by a drawing for some fabulous door prizes! You can pre-register to participate or volunteer at Eventbrite.

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We recently reached a momentous milestone in the bambina’s short life: 6 months old! That’s half a year! How did that happen?

She’s been showing more and more signs of teething lately – drooling through multiple shirts a day, chomping hard on her fingers and my own, putting everything within reach into her gummy little mouth, and responding positively to iced pacifiers and clove oil on her gums. She’s also been more and more grabby (which is only a problem when I don’t want her grabbing anything that’s actually in reach, like my hair, or breakable and probably germy products on a store shelf), so I decided it was time to find something for her to play with and chomp on while I’m holding her.

I found some beautiful necklaces on Etsy that I absolutely love, like this…

And this…

And this…

But in the spirit of homemade, I headed out to my local craft store and found some supplies to make my own. Boy, was that a mistake. It turns out I am a terrible jewelry designer, especially when it comes to practical necklaces that are baby-mouth safe. My first two attempts were not even worthy of photographing – they ended up being disassembled to harvest the beads and then the cord got trashed.

Take two. I ordered two wooden teething rings from Life Circles Necklaces on Etsy, one of which became a necklace when I strung a silk cord through it (the other went in the bambina’s toy basket).

Too bad she enjoys sucking on the cord more than anything else. It’s also slightly uncomfortable to have hanging around my neck when she’s not actively playing with it, so I went back to my original plan of knotting some beads onto cord. Here are the two necklaces I ended up with.

The first one uses cotton cord knotted in a friendship bracelet style with small red and orange glass beads spaced evenly along the cord.

The second one is made of narrow ribbon and blue glass beads, also assembled via the friendship bracelet style of knotting.

(Thank goodness for all of those years of making bracelets at summer camp!)

“But, Jacelyn,” I hear you exclaiming, “you’re letting her chew on glass beads?!” Yep, I sure am. But a) she still has no teeth, so technically she’s just gumming them, and b) I double-check them every time I grab a necklace to make sure they’re all still fully intact, and c) I supervise her when she’s playing with them. And to be perfectly honest, she pretty much spends all her time sucking on the cord or ribbon; any bead-mouthing is just collateral damage. When she gets to the point that I’m actually worried about her having those beads in her mouth, I’ll make another necklace that’s just knots, possibly embellished with wooden beads.

So, the bottom line… In the end, it would have been more cost- and time-efficient to order a finished product. But I enjoyed challenging myself to create something that I would enjoy wearing and that the bambina would enjoy playing with. And she does enjoy playing with them. Mostly I wear them when I’m carrying her in a sling or other carrier – they keep her entertained and busy when we’re just standing around, and they distract her from needing to grab at everything else. Mission accomplished.

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Hi, I'm Jacelyn! My bambina was born in December of 2011, and although Papa and I are trying to raise her with as little stuff as possible, my goal is to make sure that as much of that stuff is homemade as I can. Join us, won't you?

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Fine Print

You may feel free to borrow any of my photos as long as you credit them back to me, with the exception of photos of my little Bambina - you may not use any pictures of my baby anywhere for any purpose.